According to Pew Research, seven-in-ten Americans who identify as “Catholic” do not profess one of the most key teachings of the Catholic Church. This is belief in the transubstantiation, which is a Catholic dogma, meaning that Catholics are required to profess it in order to be in good standing with the Church.
The transubstantiation is the belief that the bread and wine, used in holy communion, really and truly become the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. That is to say, not symbols or representations, but the actual, living flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, under the mere appearance of bread and wine…
By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1413
The fact that seven-in-ten Catholic Americans reject this teaching, or at the very least are ignorant of it, reveals a severe crisis of faith in the US Catholic Church. In essence, most Catholic Americans are confessing Protestants on this matter, even though they claim to be Catholic. Their belief on the Eucharist is more closely aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention than the Roman Catholic Church. The key findings of the Pew study reveal…
These results are bad enough by themselves, but I’m afraid it gets worse. The following is the most terrifying results of the survey. Apparently, just going to mass on a regular basis is not good enough…
About six-in-ten (63%) of the most observant Catholics — those who attend Mass at least once a week — accept the church’s teaching about transubstantiation. Still, even among this most observant group of Catholics, roughly one-third (37%) don’t believe that the Communion bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ (including 23% who don’t know the church’s teaching and 14% who know the church’s teaching but don’t believe it). And among Catholics who do not attend mass weekly, large majorities say they believe the bread and wine are symbolic and do not actually become the body and blood of Jesus.
Pew Research Center, August 5, 2019
Going to mass helps, but it doesn’t solve the problem. So bishops, here is the cold, hard truth. When you and your priests look out over your congregations on Sunday morning, of all the faces you recognize as regular attendees, only about six-in-ten of them actually believe in the transubstantiation. The other four think the Eucharist is just symbolic. These are the people you see! These are the people you know! That’s not even counting those who just show up to mass sporadically. Almost none of those believe in the transubstantiation. Just think about that. All those people receiving the sacrament unworthily, not even knowing (or refusing to believe) that is God himself they are placing in their mouths.
Of course, this survey (as well as others), is what led to the “Eucharistic Revival” program the US bishops are now promoting. I dare say that if Pew did another survey after it’s over, there would be only a modest change in the results, if any change at all.
That’s because teaching (catechesis) is not good enough by itself. Belief must be based in prayer, and the way we pray directly affects how we believe. Lex Orandi Lex Credendi. Gentlemen, and I’m speaking to you bishops here, when you place the Eucharistic host into the hand, like a common cracker, why are you surprised when the majority of Catholics believe it’s just a common cracker? Actions speak louder than words. You can say it’s the body and blood of Christ all you want, and they might hear you say it, but when you act like it’s just a cracker, they’re going to believe its just a cracker. I’m not trying to be offensive here. I’m trying to penetrate your misunderstanding. Somewhere along the line, sometime in your formation, somebody lied to you. Or maybe they themselves were just misinformed too. Whatever the case, you got some bad information. You were told that communion in the hand wouldn’t affect belief in the transubstantiation. That was wrong. It most clearly does. And after fifty years of this practice in the United States, it shows!
Liturgy is the primary source of catechesis. Yes, you read that right. LITURGY is the PRIMARY source of catechesis. What we teach Catholics with our words only backs up what we do in worship. Lex Orandi Lex Credendi. Prayer comes first, then catechesis. Catechesis backs up prayer, not the other way around. People will be more likely to believe in the transubstantiation when they see how Catholics act toward it. It starts with the priest, who handles it with the utmost care, and continues with the people who kneel to receive it on the tongue. These images have a way of impregnating the mind, and creating a lasting effect. Then, when this is followed with verbal or written catechesis, the foundation is already laid, and the mind is ready to receive it.
You don’t need to do expensive programs. While there is nothing wrong with this, and it could be modestly helpful, the real heavy work is done with the liturgy. In some dioceses, that money might be better spent on just re-installing altar rails.
Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church through Anglicanism. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com
Real Clear Catholic 
Well spoken Shane.
By way of contrast, here is an article about Protestant beliefs which also surprised me:
Most American Protestants Doubt Core Protestant Doctrines
Uncategorized | Sep 11, 2017Illustration of Martin Luther nailing his “95 Theses” to the door of the Wittenberg Castle church
By Aaron Earls
Five hundred years after Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation, American Protestants aren’t quite sure about two of the movement’s foundational beliefs.
In defiance of the Catholic Church in his day, Luther proclaimed sola fide, that justification with God comes through faith alone, and sola scriptura, that only the Bible speaks infallibly and is judge over tradition and teachers.
Today, only 3 in 10 self-identified U.S. Protestants say they believe both doctrines, according to a new study from Pew Research. Fewer than half agree with one or the other.
Only 46 percent of American Protestants believe faith in God alone is needed for entry into heaven (how Pew defined sola fide). More than half (52 percent) say an individual needs both faith and good deeds.
Since most Protestants disagree with Pew’s articulation of sola fide it’s perhaps not surprising that most aren’t aware it is a historically Protestant doctrine.
Only 27 percent of U.S. Protestants say only the Protestant branch of Christianity teaches salvation comes through faith alone. Close to half (44 percent) think both Protestants and Catholics teach it, 19 percent say neither, and 8 percent say only Catholics.
White evangelicals are the Protestant group most likely to hold to belief in faith alone. More than 2 in 3 (67 percent) agree that only faith is required for access to heaven, with 33 percent saying faith and works are both needed.
Meanwhile, white mainline Protestants (37 percent), black Protestants (29 percent), and other minority Protestants (34 percent) are far less likely to agree with sola fide. At least 6 in 10 among each group say good deeds and faith are necessary to get into heaven.
The numbers look similar for belief in the Bible alone as all the religious guidance Christians need (how Pew defined sola scriptura). Forty-six percent of Protestants agree, while 52 percent say Christians need guidance from church teachings and traditions, in addition to Scripture.
More than half of white evangelicals (58 percent) believe Christians only need Scripture for guidance. Around 4 in 10 (41 percent) say church teaching and tradition are also needed.
As before, fewer white mainline Protestants (37 percent) and black Protestants (31 percent) express belief in sola scriptura.
Other minority Protestants, however, were much more likely to agree with the historically Protestant doctrine. More than half (52 percent) say the Bible provides all the religious guidance Christians need.
A plurality of Protestants (36 percent) believes in neither sola fide or sola scriptura. Slightly fewer believe one doctrine, but not the other (35 percent). Even less (30 percent) agree with both.
Among white evangelicals, their numbers are much different. Only 19 believe neither, 37 percent accept one, but not the other, and 44 percent believe both.
Church attendance and education level contribute to the likelihood white evangelicals embrace sola scripture and sola fide. Among those who attend church weekly or more, 59 percent believe both, while 30 percent of less frequent attenders say the same.
Sixty-five percent of white evangelicals with at least a college degree hold to both historic Protestant doctrines, but only 38 percent of those with less than a college education say the same.
AARON EARLS (@WardrobeDoor) is online editor of Facts & Trends.
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